Breakfast Casseroles Bites

My baby starts Kindergarten tomorrow. He is so flipping excited. Me, not so much. It isn't because I don't want him to go to school. Trust me, this last week has gone by so slow. He and I definitely need a regularly scheduled break from each other after two months of almost solid one-on-one time. I hope this doesn't make me a bad parent, nor do I want it to come off that I don't love him. Momma just needs some quiet time. But I digress...back to why I am not excited about school starting back up. I am not a morning person. It takes me a while to get going in the morning. I'm the person who will set four different alarms on my phone, only to snooze all of them and wake up with 15 minutes to get ready to go. Not being a morning person makes getting a kid up, dressed, fed, and to school somewhat difficult. Peanut's breakfasts last year for PreK consisted of either frozen waffles, cinnamon toast (or toast with jam), cereal, or an apple sauce pouch with a granola bar. I didn't win any parent of the year awards with that carb heavy breakfast menu. This year I'm going to try to be a little better on the breakfast end. I'm sure we will still be rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off, but Peanut will not be eating frozen waffles five days in a row. He and I brainstormed a list of five different breakfasts and before bedtime, he will choose which one he wants the following morning. No breakfast will be repeated until he has had all five choices. One of the breakfast ideas he came up with was Breakfast Casserole Bites (he calls them egg cups). We were introduced to these babies about two years ago when a friend brought a big frozen batch of them on vacation. They are pretty easy to assemble ahead of time and freeze beautifully. Pop them in the microwave and voila! Yummy breakfast goodness. If you make these, I really recommend buying silicone muffin liners. They cut down on cleanup and help keep the "bites" separated when freezing. Just don't forget to take them off before microwaving!!!

Breakfast Casserole Bites

Makes 12 (I always double the recipe)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients-

• two pieces of sandwich bread (I usually fish out the butt pieces of the loaf to use for this)
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 lb cooked, drained, and crumbled bacon or sausage

Step 1- Place liners in muffin pan. I'm sure you could grease the cups and forgo the liners, but I've never made them this way.

Step 2- Cut up bread into 1/2" pieces and distribute evenly throughout the muffin pan.

Obviously, I doubled the recipe.

Step 3- Sprinkle an even amount of meat into each cup.

Mmmmm...sausage.

Step 4- Whisk together the eggs and milk.

 Step 5- Evenly distribute the egg mixture into the cups.

Step 6- Add an even-ish amount of cheese to each cup.

Step 7- Bake 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven until eggs are set and cheese is bubbling.

Step 8- If freezing, let cool, remove from pan, and store in a freezer safe container. Separate layers with wax paper. 

Once frozen, pop one into the microwave (remove liner and put on a microwave safe plate) for one and a half minutes. Then.....enjoy!!! Each "bite" is roughly 175 calories, depending on  the quality of your ingredients.